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The first time Eggsy can bring himself to say the words “I love you” to Harry, Harry is dying in the medical ward. The older man’s skin is pale, his breath grows shallower with every passing moment, and the heart monitor stutters every so often.
“It isn’t you fault,” Merlin whispers before leaving Eggsy alone in the room with Harry.
A goddamn grenade. The same thing that Lee Unwin had saved Harry from was the reason the older man was bed ridden. Eggsy laughed hysterically when he’d found out, the irony of the situation driving him crazy with grief. What were the chances that Harry would survive a shot to the head, to succumb to a grenade not unlike the one that had killed Lee Unwin?
Apparently, the chances were greater than expected, the young man thought bitterly, holding one of Harry’s hands in his own.
“C’mon ‘arry,” Eggsy whispers the first night in the medical ward. “If ya can survive a bullet to t’head, you can make survive this.”
The older man doesn’t reply. The heart monitor continues to beep.
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“I was talkin’ t’Merlin earlier bruv,” Eggsy says casually to an unmoving Harry. “He says that they might have t’put you in a medical coma.”
It’s been a month, and Harry is getting worse.
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“Come on lad, you need to get some air,” Merlin mutters to a sleepy Eggsy. It’s been three months and Eggsy barely leaves Harry’s side. The young man only accepts short missions close to home. With the addition of multiple new Kingsmen, Merlin figures he can make an exception for the young man. He can make an exception, he figures, as long as the young man takes care of himself as well.
“Can’t leave ‘im,” Eggsy murmurs, tightening his grip on Harry’s hand. “What if ‘e wakes up? ‘e needs someone ‘ere.”
The nurse in the room tuts in sympathy before meeting eyes with Merlin over the pair. The message was clear: the younger man needed to leave in order to keep himself in decent health.
“In the case that Arthur does wake up, we will alert you Galahad,” the nurse answers Eggsy’s question, handing a small device in his hands. “This will vibrate and beep in the event that Arthur wakes up, just click the button on the side and we will know to expect to see you back in this room shortly.”
Eggsy stares at the device for a moment, eyes blinking lethargically. It had been a long time since he’d had a nap, he thinks, maybe the nurse and Merlin have a point.
Merlin lets out a discreet sigh of relief when the young man stands up and moves to support him as Eggsy unwillingly sways back and forth from exhaustion. They leave the room at a steady pace as Harry lets out a heavy breath.
This continues. Eggsy works and works. Eggsy goes to Harry’s bedside. Eggsy stays up in the hopes that Harry wakes up to the young man beside him.
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“You bastard, when are ya goin’ t’wake up? I can’t keep waitin’ like this ‘arry! I love ya, you fucker, and yer just gonna leave me alone like this after me dad died to keep you from dyin’ from a grenade?”
Eggsy breaks down six months after Harry is injured, the young man crying at Harry’s side. There is no response, Eggsy wasn’t expecting one, but the doctors had been telling him that Harry was supposedly getting better. The heart monitor is steady, Harry has regained some of the color in his skin, and he can breathe on his own…but Harry isn’t awake yet.
“I love you,” Eggsy repeats slowly, moving to his regular seat by Harry’s bedside. “I fuckin’ love you, and ya aren’t even awake to hear me say it.”
“Sorry.”
The older man’s eyes flutter open and Eggsy gasps out a sob.
“Eggsy…Eggsy,” Harry whispers as the young man embraces him.
“You fucker,” Eggsy curses, gripping Harry closer. “You fucker.”
“I love you too Eggsy,” Harry manages to say, right as the nurse bursts in to check on why Harry’s heart rate spiked.
I love you too.